"Your mother had her whole life. She sang at my wedding... she raised two girls... we can't know everything she did. We are mysterious creatures, aren't we?"
Here is a quote from one of my favorite movies. Evening is a movie that changed my thoughts on old age. I had always thought that lying on your deathbed would be a frightening place to end up after a life of living. But when this film came out in 2007, another maybe hopeful thought came to pass. You may in fact just return to the place that was burnt into your memory long ago, a place that you would have liked to relive. I try to think back on my own short life, and think of a time that I would have liked to go back too. Ann Grant looked back on what she thought was a waste of life, trying to become a famous singer, thinking maybe if she had only gone with Harris, if only Buddy hadn't died she may have gotten her wish. So in the hours before her death, she revisits a place in her life, where she could have gone down a different path, in the end she sees that having her children and singing for them, meant much more to her then living the dream, of stage singing. So as I look back, I would revisit three places that bring happiness to my heart, a place where I felt at home, calm, happy, and free. I would pick an ordinary happy day spent with my sister, one of the days that we had taken a drive in our old Volvo, singing out the window, just us, our music, and the road. Those were some of the happiest moments of my life and it seems in our busy lives, Kess and I don't have chances to do simply things like take a drive in Pennsylvanian anymore. Another time would be spent in my High School Auditorium on closing night of the school musical. Music has always been a big part of my life, as it was for Ann Grant. It makes me happy and connected to the people around me. As we close the show, my cello strings vibrate into my hands, the crowd cheers, and everyone's face is a glow. What else could you want? My last memory would be spent with my three friends I have made in college, whether it would be spent sitting on the HUB lawn or watching a movie, joking and relaxing before more hussel and bussel that college is bound to bring. And so Evening helped teach me to cherish an ordinary day because the ordinary days are the most important at the end, whether it be the day, a month, a year, or a lifetime.
I feel like a stalker commenting on 100% of what posts you have made. But I will comment.
ReplyDeleteI didn't like the movie that much. I blame the editing and the treatment of the scenes. But I loved the actors and what they tried to do. I didn't realize what that movie was trying to convey because of the bad editing job. That is, until I read this post so thanks for the insight!
Niessie
Well dear I don't know how you didn't like the film, but I won't hold that against you. To be honest I think it was supposed to be confusing, because life is confusing. But the ending was simple, the things that you love the most in life end up being the things right in front of you, but maybe I am to young to say what is truly important.
ReplyDeleteI loved loved loved the ending. The way Ebon Moss-Bachrach (I had to look up his name), the guy who played the partner of the pregnant and worried daughter, reacted when he found out that he was going to be a Dad!
ReplyDeleteMaybe the way the scenes were put together was supposed to be confusing because the mother was in her deathbed. That explanation would work because she was dreaming about a seemingly random past. I guess it would go with the idea of "life flashing before your eyes" where you see a random part of your memory flash before you. Mmmmm...I didn't read the book so maybe that's why I didn't get it. The gold butterfly-fairy dust scene where the mother gets up out of her bed and wanders around the house looked hoaky and got me saying WTF.
I guess the real question is: should the audience understand the movie even if they hadn't read the book? I think for all movies, the audience should still be able to get what is going on. The film should be able to stand by itself as its own artwork separate from the novel. The audience shouldn't have to refer to the novel for further explanation.
But that could also be a marketing ploy because I guess one of the jobs of film adaptations is to get the audience to read the actual novel. So if the audience doesn't get something, they should go read the book. Personally, this doesn't work for me and I think that in practical marketing, it doesn't work either because the average audience member doesn't look to analyze (probably because they don't have the time)...so if their first impression is WTF, then it just turns people away.
Wow that was long.
Or, the film was meant for a specific audience: people who had read the book.
ReplyDeleteBut the thing is, I think this film was marketed for a wider audience. I saw a bunch of commercials for this, which means that they wanted the general public to see it(I know--duh, all films want to be seen. But some films don't publicize that well because of money and because it is geared for a specific audience). They even got Meryl Streep in a 5 to 10-minute segment.
They wanted a big audience, which means that one of their goals is to make the film such that the general public will be able to follow the story even if they hadn't read the book...which also means that they should've put the scenes together in a coherent way for the average person who might not have read the book.
We should talk about this in person Denise haha...I don't think you totally understand the concepts in the movie haha some of it relates to geriatrics, which I know some about just because of my Dad, anyway haha thanks for the comments.
ReplyDeleteif that was Denise haha
ReplyDeleteyeah that was me.
ReplyDelete